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Obviously, I’m not a relationship expert. But there’s something about my divorce being finalized this week that gives me perspective of things I wish I would have done different… After losing a woman that I loved, and a marriage of almost 16 years, here’s the advice I wish I would have had

1. Never stop courting. Never stop dating. NEVER EVER take that woman for granted. When you asked her to marry you, you promised to be that man that would OWN HER HEART and to fiercely protect it. This is the most important and sacred treasure you will ever be entrusted with. SHE CHOSE YOU. Never forget that, and NEVER GET LAZY in your love.

2. Protect your own heart. Just as you committed to being the protector of her heart, you must guard your own with the same vigilance. Love yourself fully, love the world openly, but there…

Jumping around a lot is something that military girlfriends and spouses are used to. We have to be good at jumping cities and jobs because that is the life that we have thrown ourselves into. Although it can be easy to see the negatives of this constant moving and shuffling, Sheryl Sandberg suggests that maybe jumping around isn’t such a bad career move after all.

Sandberg says that more women need to view their careers as jungle gyms instead of ladders. She wants us to understand the value in taking lateral career jumps just as much as the value of taking vertical career jumps. In other words, sometimes it is okay to move from one position to another even if it doesn’t necessarily move you higher up the corporate ladder. Sandberg notes that “the most common metaphor for careers is a ladder…

If you’ve ever watched someone slowly, painstakingly load an old person into a vehicle or guide them into a building, it probably looked like hard work.

It’s true — caregiving takes strength, planning and the patience of a saint. But when it comes to helping the elderly, they’re only half the battle.

Today a reader told me her 88-year-old mother just moved in with her family. I wish I could share a magic formula to her mother’s longevity, but the best advice I can offer is this: Caregiving success requires advocacy, and you never know what form it will take:

Know which questions to ask
When Grandma moved on to rehab after back-to-back hospital stays, the center immediately switched her to another antibiotic, one the hospital’s doctors previously used to treat her life-threatening case of C diff. It didn’t work the second time either, and she got worse instead…